(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Democrats says changes made by the Iowa Legislature and approved by the governor have left Area Education Agencies short staff as the school year gets underway. Representative Lindsay James of Dubuque says there’s a drop of more than 400. “What does this actually mean? Four-hundred-29 fewer staffers in the A-E-As means that there are 429 fewer professionals on the ground providing vital services for kids in our public schools,” she says.

The reorganization plan of the governor gives the school districts the same amount of money and the Department of Education is taking over some services. James and other Democratic lawmakers say they don’t know how many of the A-E-A employees have left to take other education jobs in Iowa.  “And if you look at the Department of Ed those positions that they are hiring for have not been filled. Many, many, many have not been filled. And so what we’re seeing is an incredible loss and re-shifting to bureaucratic rules in Des Moines and positions going unfilled in Des Moines,” she says.

The Governor’s spokesperson issued a statement that says:

“While the Governor and her team were in Northwest Iowa celebrating getting students back to school after a natural disaster, the Democrats were looking backward and telling Iowans half-truths about special education reform. They are stoking fear, but these are the facts: no funding has been cut for special education or any educational services-it’s been given to the local school districts to control. Some schools have hired former AEA employees, while others have chosen to continue to work with AEAs. As schools decide how to best use their resources to serve their students with special needs, resources will naturally shift. That is the intent-to strengthen the education experience for all students, including students receiving special education services.”

DES MOINES – The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is investigating a wastewater discharge at the City of Fort Dodge, in Webster County. Officials say the DNR Field Office in Mason City was notified Wednesday by the City of Fort Dodge, of a wastewater discharge due to a contractor hitting a force main at the Kenyon Road bridge near the Des Moines River.

The discharge was discovered around 4:00 PM. The main transports untreated wastewater under the river to the wastewater treatment plant. It is estimated that approximately 400,000 gallons of untreated wastewater flowed into the river. Repairs are complete, and cleanup efforts have begun.

Any downstream recreational users should take caution and stay out of the river at this time. No dead fish have been observed at this time. The Iowa DNR will follow up with the city for further assessment, and the investigation is ongoing.

To report a release after hours, please call the DNR’s emergency spill line at (515) 725-8694. Quick reporting can help DNR staff identify the cause of an incident. The DNR website has more information about spill reporting requirements.

(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Iowa State Patrol today (Thursday), identified a teenager who died in a downtown Des Moines crash Wednesday morning. The crash ended a pursuit that began at around 1-a.m. Wednesday, when troopers tried to stop a stolen car that was speeding on Interstate 235 at 31st Street.

The chase entered the downtown area, where the stolen 2013 Hyundai Elantra with five occupants went the wrong way on Grand Avenue. At that point, Troopers backed-off, but the car crashed into a 2019 Jeep Cherokee on 7th Street. A passenger in the stolen car, 16-year-old Chad Nicholson, of Des Moines, died at the scene. Four others in the stolen car — a 15-year-old, two 16-year-olds (one of them the driver) and a 20-year-old — were were taken to local hospitals with undisclosed injuries. All passengers are from Des Moines. None of the persons in the car were wearing seat belts.

The driver of the SUV, 35-year-old Aaron John Stonehocker, of Adel, and his passenger, were treated for injuries and released.

(Radio Iowa) – A health insurance company is investing millions of dollars in mental tele-health services in Iowa’s K-12 public schools. The Cedar Rapids Community School District received one-and-a-half million dollars this week from Minnesota-based insurer UnitedHealth Group. Superintendent Tawana Grover says the money will help pay for an online tele-health portal that students can use to access mental health counseling.

“It’s one thing to check in,” Grover says. “It’s another thing to spend 30 minutes or an hour with someone that is solely focused on your needs, what you need, what you’re dealing with, and helping to not only listen, but to provide you with strategies that you can use whenever you go beyond the session.” The provider is Hazel Health, which focuses on school-based care. Brian Masterson, UnitedHealth’s senior behavioral health medical director, says starting in the schools could prevent longer term, more acute behavioral issues.

“We’ve been contemplating this for a few years, working with how do you address the mental health crisis in in our society, but also how to address that by working through it so you start an earlier time period,” Masterson says. “So in schools and those types of things, is an opportunity to teach people about the constructs of mental well-being.” UnitedHealth says it aims to provide the resources to historically under-served and rural communities. In the end, the program goal is to impact 100-thousand students.

As of Wednesday, it has funded the creation of two such programs in Des Moines and Council Bluffs. No rural programs have been announced.

(Red Oak, Iowa) – Police in Red Oak arrested a woman on drug-related charges this (Thursday) morning. 38-year-old Sara Sue Batten, of Red Oak, was arrested at around 9-a.m. in the 1200 block of N. Broadway in Red Oak, on charges that include Possession of a Controlled Substance and Poss. of Drug Paraphernalia. Batten was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $1,000 bond.

(Radio Iowa)- Iowa’s Congressional delegation is back in Iowa for a work period to meet with people in their district. Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, hopes they can get some work done when they return to Washington. “We’re not in session next week, but we’re in session the next three weeks after that, I’m hopeful we’re still able to move forward with good legislation,” she says. “There’s a lot of time-centric bills that we’ve put out that I’m continuing to advocate to our leadership that we need to move the ball forward on those.” This is an election year and that can often keep legislation from moving forward.

Hinson says one of the key things they have to address is the Farm Bill. “I’m hopeful we’re able to get our bill across the finish line in a bipartisan way, but again, if we can’t by that September 30th deadline, I will support an extension,” Hinson says. Hinson says she’s not sure what a Farm Bill extension would look like.

She made her comments during her weekly conference call with reporters.